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Controllers Comments.
As controller of the West Midlands Schools Event, my job was made as easy as possible by the excellent organisation and planning from Jim Knight and Andy Yeates respectively, with very able support from members of Walton Chasers. Thank you to Jim and Andy and their teams of helpers for all their time and energy which made the event happen.
It was the first time that SI electronic punching had been used for this annual event. This meant that new systems and information had to be devised. Much time was spent by Jim in the preparation and planning stages to ensure that everything ran smoothly. Andy planned very good courses to white, yellow and orange standards according to the West Midlands guidelines. They catered for the inexperienced competitors as well as providing a challenge for the more experienced to be as precise as possible. I felt that the standards were right for the general levels of experience.
It was lovely to see so many competitors complete their courses successfully on a beautiful day. Next year we will hope to see more schools represented at the event to be organised by POTOC on 6 May 2006. We hope that you will be back and will encourage other schools to prepare for the event and ‘have a go’.
Jane Christopher

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Planners Comments.
Well, the day went smoothly, the sun shone, and people were kind enough to thank me for the courses. Cheers.
How many people were aware that the course difficulty had been reduced from last year? I originally planned up to light green standard until it was pointed out to me that orange was now the highest standard. My biggest problem was now keeping the courses interesting. This was achieved on the west side of the map as there were many paths, but the east side did not give me much option other than nipping off the main track. Still, I saw several competitors zipping past control sites on the east side that were not immediately obvious from the path, so the standard was not compromised to much.
Many thanks to Jane Christopher for keeping an eye on me, Jim Knight for organising my patrollers, and to my patrollers for giving their time (Alison Yeates, Ian Turner, Alan Williams, Ian Jones, Chris Boycott, and Jonathon Howell).
Andy Yeates

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Organisers Comments.
I had organised a small event local at Jackson’s Bank in the past so when I was asked if I would organise another event there it did not occur to me that the event could be so different from a “normal” event!
Many thanks to everyone who helped in any way with this event, but particularly to Mark Stodgell who was so willing to undertake a considerable amount of work in order that we could use electronic timing for the first time at the WM Schools Championships, to Andy Yeates for ensuring that the best possible courses were planned whilst also keeping within the rules of the Championships and to Jane Christopher for checking and double checking of everything and her encouragement.
Jim Knight